Douyin, JD.com, and Tmall ignite early 618 discount war as platforms chase China’s cautious shoppers

['Shuang Jing', 'More Shuang Jing', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar'] TechNode 2025-05-13 00:00:00

China’s major e-commerce platforms, Alibaba, JD.com, and ByteDance’s Douyin, are preparing for the 618 shopping festival, a massive mid-year sales event initiated by JD in 2004. With weak consumer spending in China, the companies are already entering a fierce price war with early discounts and aggressive promotions. The ByteDance-owned platform is leaning heavily on subsidies: users can claim up to RMB 2,280 ($316.5) in vouchers, with over RMB 10 billion ($1.39 billion) in discounts on offer. Context: The policy shift comes as China’s e-commerce platforms face mounting pressure to sustain growth. JD said over 500 million users placed orders during last year’s 618 campaign, while 83 brands exceeded RMB 1 billion ($138.8 million) in sales.